if it works really good … why not? I hope it does. My goal is to buy some Piano learning app for my iPad and learn how to play some classics and transfer that knowledge to improvise with MPE. I know there are other options available with weighted keys that would be much better ootb. My space is limited though.
for playing piano type sounds (so just a strike) , it’ll be quite a similar to a ‘synth’ action keybed.
so (unsurprisingly) not the same as a weighted hammer action, but still playable.
also for ‘piano’ use, its only got 49 keys (so 3.5 octaves) , so that’s pretty limiting for classical pieces 
I had some good time with the Osmose at SB21.
one of the question I was asking myself before was:
“Could the Osmose replace a ‘normal synth’ keyboard, e.g. as a midi controller, for bread n’ butter synths/piano?”
whilst it is a little different in feel, Id say the answer to this is YES it could (at least for me).
(unlike say the Roli Seaboard, which Id say could not really take this role, esp for percussive sounds)
I also chatted briefly to someone I know involved in the project, who has had the prototypes of the Osmose for a long time, and he said, he has been surprised how good it is as a conventional synth/midi keyboard and has often used it in this way.
so yeah, whilst you’ll hear a lot of talk about how light the (initial) touch is (and wow it is!) this is just because this is a unique aspect, and is based on particular patches (e.g. string patches).
when you switch to a percussive patch (where that pressure might not be used), then the strike is where you would expect.
not sure that makes sense, without trying it… but summary is, it does very well at both using pressure to gradually play sounds, and also having a strike action. (and both at the same time ;))
also the 2nd movement (aka Y) on they key plunge is great too… whilst conceptually its like aftertouch, its really something much better than that…
also it’s worth noting, all the sensitivity of the ‘axis’ are controllable on the panel , and are very accessible. In fact, if you watch the video carefully, you will see the ExpressiveE guy is tweaking these as the players are playing.( * ) … unnerved me, when I noticed him doing it whilst I played… I was kind of … what you up to man?
overall, I do believe it will make a good general keyboard, as well as an exceptional expressive controller 
in fact so much so, Ive started piano lessons (and bought a digital piano), to build up my keyboard skills - so that when the Osmose arrives, I can make the most of it !
( * ) basically as none of us were used to the action, he is backing off the sensitivity at times… particular the pitchbend (key wiggle ) , which is going to need some practice to be able to use at higher sensitivities.
9 Likes
Which keyboard learn programm do you use? There are some like guitar hero - i would like something like this.
I’ve joined Pianote - https://www.pianote.com
I like it so far, its a mix of lessons, songs and quite a lot of other support material.
they also have a good youtube channel, which is representative of their approach.
https://www.youtube.com/user/PianoLessonscom
of course, there are a ton of piano tutorials/lessons , songs etc on youtube to choose from.
I did try melodics a while back, which is similar to guitar hero…
however, after awhile i felt I was rather learning songs, than learning to play piano…
but that may be unfair, after all you are learning timing, rhythm, technique … so perhaps just didn’t fit my goals?
1 Like
thanks a lot for your post full of precious information. You basically confirmed all my expectations.
3 Likes
I bought Noah Kellman’s Neo-Soul exercise book - deciding that I wanted to work on riffs/grooves in this style really helped narrow down the choice of piano learning materials to work on for me:
5 of the 20 exercises are featured here:
I’ve also enjoyed Matt Johnson’s vids. This one is relatively new and it has a link to his Neo-Soul chord progression video:
OMG! I just noticed that he’s playing piano sounds on a Prophet 6! Nice tie-in to the earlier joke about spending two grand on a keyboard synth, just to serve as a soft piano controller.
This is apparently the soft piano he’s using. $99 doesn’t sound too bad of a price, although I’m quite satisfied with the pianos on my $200 Casiotone CT-S1
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/the-gentleman/
Interesting and not 100% off topic:
Not much of an update in terms of content but latest email definitely feels like things are on the final straight now.
Guessing most preorders spike be fulfilled between end of Q1 to Q2 now
1 Like
Seems like we’re getting our Osmose earliest end of February …end of Q1 with chinese shipping duration AND delays more like Q2 I guess … 
1 Like
The good side of the coin is that I’ll have the time to raise the money! 
5 Likes
yeah, none of this is a big surprise… I’d say we are looking at March-April.
then we’ll see how quickly they get shipped out, Im really not sure how many have pre-ordered… so could be a while to get them all out.
I really hope the influencers are not given any priority…
there are none to buy (and for a while to come I suspect) , so marketing should not be a priority, so if they have pre-ordered, they should get in the queue like everyone else.
usually, I’d not care about this… after all, they have a job to do… but in this case, those of us that pre-ordered have waited an extremely long time… so I think letting some YouTubers get their hands on it early, I think would be a bit “off”
3 Likes
also I think marketing was already pretty expensive for them… let‘s hope their budget is exhausted.
1 Like
actually that pretty much depends… many YouTubers expect to keep units they are given for review.
partly in lieu of payment for all the work they do, esp. on something like this which they might want more long-term.
yeah, we don’t know how many are going to be in the initial run, and there are already ready a few units that are pretty close to production units (they had 3 at Superbooth, and obviously now have the ‘golden one’)
anyway… my points was a bit more ‘sensitivity’…
I don’t mind YouTubers getting units for review, its their job, and they put in a lot of hours to make videos, so they are not ‘free’.
rather…by the time they ship (if March) we will have waited 2.5 years, and given the number of pre-orders, I suspect many of us will still have a reasonable wait even once they start shipping.
so people are going to be a bit miffed if every synth YouTube starts publishing Osmose video when those that have waited 2.5 years, have not got it yet, or perhaps even been told when they will get theirs.
as I said, also I doubt Expressive-E will actually have any to sell until much later in the year… so leave the marketing until then…
also frankly, there are some great players on the Haken team that already have the Osmose, they probably can do a better job at demonstrating … simply because they are great keyboard players and also know the intricacies of the EagenMatrix… not something you pick up in a couple of weeks for ‘review’.
2 Likes
Anyone know what the price will be (for the main public, not the kickstarterbackers) ?
They updated the development page, looks like production is primed and they expect to ship units in the first quarter of the new year.
1 Like
So for fun i put together a list of artists ( influencers ? ) that have already been a part of all this. I think i got most of them. In no particular order.
Antonius Holkenborg ( Junkie XL )
Kaela Sinclair
Mike Dean
Andreas Paleologos ( Cuckoo )
Jordan Rudess
Peter Dyer
Bill Laurance
Julian Pollock ( J3PO )
Val Brunn ( Virtual Riot )
Sofia Hultquist
Ron Avant
Gavin Greenway
Sarah Schachner
Marc Doty
Geoff Stradling
John Debney
Charle Clauser
Jonathan Merrill
Randy Kerber
Gaz Williams
1 Like
names Id recommend keeping an eye on…
Christophe Duquesne - musician, but also a developer on the eagen matrix.
Rob Schwimmer - long time continuum player, showed cased the Osmose at Superbooth last year.
Edmund Eagen… no introduction necessary
perhaps, the three musketeers of the Osmose…
sure, aren’t big names/channels as the above list, but are top class musicians, and at the heart of bringing the Eagen Matrix to the Osmose. check out their channels.
the great thing about these guys, they are not some marketing tool… they understand better than any the expressive nature of the matrix, and have years (decades?) of experience using it.
generally, Id say when we get the Osmose, look to long time continuum players for inspiration… sure its different, but its the closest thing we have… not only for knowledge in sound design, but also how to leverage the expressiveness, and techniques required for this.
3 Likes
for some reason, I was thinking about Osmose yesterday…
I suspect, things will not have moved on too much, if there had been a milestone reached (like production starting) , they’d send a newsletter immediately !
I reckon we’ll hear something along the lines of…
“dry run units arrived and are being tested, once we are happy production can start”
but we are also now into the Chinese new year, which means a couple of weeks of not a lot.
I’d not be surprised if manufacturing is scheduled to start at beginning of March…then it’ll be 4-6 weeks from there for first units.
this is assuming, that all required components were reserved successfully , otherwise that could throw a huge spanner into the works!
I think we will start hearing news pretty regularly when there is something ‘positive’ to say.
Id expect following milestones (pretty quickly after one another)
- production beginning
- first units on boat from china
- first customers being sent invoice for remaining amount.
- first units shipping to customes
some where in there, we’ll also no doubt seeing some ‘artists’ being sent some dry-run/pre-production units… to start building the hype. (probably when production starts, so the ball is rolling)
really the monthly newsletters are a (welcome) stop gap, to just tell us, stuff is happening behind the scenes… and to hold on tight.
I remember the whole Roli Lumi fiasco, and this is pretty much what happened… semi-regular updates without any real commitment… but once they actually started production, suddenly they became very communicative.
I don’t really blame them… really all we want to hear is ‘we are shipping’
I’ll be pleasantly surprised if they start shipping by April, but even then I fear/suspect the majority of us will have to still wait quite a while… as they ‘ramp up’ production, and overcome any ‘niggles’ they have along the way.
but hey ho, we have waited this long… perhaps we’ll be playing the Osmose in the summer sun… and my piano lessons are going well… so I might even be ‘deserving’ of it by then
+2 weeks of China’s new year party – hope it’s worth it partying so long!
That’s 8 weeks in total.
+4 weeks for shipping from China and to customers.
1 Like